Johannesburg: South Africa's main opposition party has chosen Mamphela Ramphele as its first black presidential candidate in a bid to break the ruling African National Congress's grip on power.

The Democratic Alliance, which won 17 per cent of the vote in elections five years ago and controls Western Cape province, traditionally draws the bulk of its support from white and other minority groups. The party is betting it has the best chance to woo black voters this year because of rising public anger over a lack of jobs and corruption scandals that have tainted ANC leaders, including President Jacob Zuma.

"We are taking away the race card and putting it in the dustbin," Ms Ramphele, 66, told reporters in Cape Town. "It's the historical moment when we take away the excuse of race and challenge the ANC to be judged on its performance."

A medical doctor and author, Ms Ramphele was an anti-apartheid activist and had a child with Steve Biko, the Black Consciousness Movement leader who died in 1977 after sustaining brain damage during a beating while in police custody. She served as a director of Anglo American Plc and as a managing director of the World Bank.

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Ms Ramphele told Johannesburg-based Talk Radio 702 that she remained a member of the Agang SA party she formed last year and wasn't joining the DA.

Provincial leaders of Agang, which Ms Ramphele formed last year, regarded her decision to become the DA's presidential candidate as a betrayal that warranted expulsion from the party, the Star newspaper reported, citing a member of the Agang's national advisory council, Pule Monama.

The DA is aiming to win control of two more of the country's nine provinces - Gauteng and Northern Cape - and as much as 30 per cent of the vote nationwide, Mmusi Maimane, the party's candidate for premier of Gauteng, said in an interview.

The ANC has ruled Africa's largest economy since taking power in the first all-race elections two decades ago, and currently holds almost two-thirds of the seats in Parliament.

"This is not the time to talk about the ANC," Ms Ramphele said. "You know it all: the stolen money, the broken promises, the lost jobs, the sliding rand, the corruption, filthy hospitals, schools with no books, and streets, homes and places of work that remain unsafe."

South Africa's jobless rate is 24.7 per cent, the highest of more than 30 emerging markets tracked by Bloomberg. The rand has slumped 23 per cent against the dollar since the beginning of last year.

The fastest-growing party, according to opinion polls, is the Economic Freedom Fighters, led by former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, who's campaigning for nationalisation of banks, land and mines and drawing support from poor black voters.

The EFF is the nation's third-most popular party behind the ANC and the DA with about 4 per cent support, according to a survey of 3564 adults by Johannesburg-based research company Ipsos in October and November.

Ms Ramphele previously rejected overtures from the DA to join its ranks, saying the party was out of touch with the country's black majority. Her about-turn comes after the opinion poll showed her Agang SA party, which is now merging with the DA, winning 1 per cent of the vote.